"“Somedays you eat the bear, somedays the bear eats you”"

Day 69:

After a pretty crappy few days I started to feel myself again today, Opeie clearly picked up on that too which really made all the difference to our day. We went for a really long walk around Jackfield and sat in the sun... with Mr.T and talked about everything. Turning my phone off really helped too, I'm finding it really distracting at the moment and need to remind myself that its not something I need to check all the time. Today has been a good one and I'm going to hold on to that tightly.

"I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed."

I love to see great companies coming together and collaborating on something fun, especially when it is a company That Spurs on many of our outdoor adventures, joining forces with another that makes prepping for these adventures a little more productive. We'd already joined these two on many occasions so it was exciting to receive a scoot into summer package and begin our Bear Snacks  / Micro Scooters scavenger hunt.

We definitely don't need an excuse to get out on the scooters. In fact, some weeks I feel like I've been on wheels more than my feet. Getting out and taking in our surroundings is something we spend a lot of time doing, so having a nature hunt to do along the way was a lot of fun for Opeie. We tried to spread our scavenger hunt over quite a few outings and each scooting adventure was complemented with fruity Bear snacks along the way.

The weather has been amazing over the last few weeks and we've really been making the most of it with the Micro Scooters. sometimes I still can't believe the impact the scooters have had on us as a family and it's this time of year where the scooters get our undivided attention.

The boys were disappointed when we had found everything on the list so we added a few in ourselves and went on another hunt before starting some nature-themed craft. With so much greenery all around us, I feel blessed to have started this family life in Shropshire. It is the perfect place to bring up two adventurous boys and with great companies like this entertaining us along the way, there is no end to the fun that we can have together.

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier."

Me and Mrs M have never celebrated Valentine's Day as we are always doing nice things for each other throughout the year. I do try though to make the effort for the other ladies in our life, Nanny Roo and Auntie Lottie. Last year we took a trip to build a bear and made valentines bears for them both which they loved. This year I wanted to make sure they put their card making skills to good use. Of course mommy needed a card too.

We're always drawing, painting or colouring but it's nice sometimes to have a special reason for it and someone to give the finished piece too. Making cards is also great because it gives us a fun excuse to get Opeie practising his writing. He seems to be more in to the whole activity when he's creating something for someone he loves too.

Opeie's a big fan of cutting and pasting he loves getting the glue out. We made Mommy a Miffy card using a dog eared book from a charity shop and Opeie wanted to make the most of the packaging from his Paddington Bear he got last week for sleeping in his own bed, as Nanny had taken him to see the movie recently he wanted Nanny's card to be all about Paddington.

Seth drew a lovely picture of mommy for his card and Opeie went on a heart drawing rampage for auntie Lottie's card to show her how much he loves her.

The boys were excited about putting question marks in their creations and although they were written out to 'Nanny' and 'Auntie Lottie' I suspect they had absolutely no idea who their secret admirers actually where.

"Charity is willingly given from the heart."

We have loved working with Build a bear workshop over the last couple of years and the experience of walking into a store with the boys knowing they can create themselves a furry friend really is quite an experience. Aside from the bears and all their amazing outfits to choose from, one of the things i love about them as a company is all of the charity bears they release and charity events they support, working to help disadvantaged people. Their current charity bear is Spots if fun pup and £1 from each sale goes to the Children in need appeal, which helps children and young people on various endeavours.

 In addition to Spots of fun pup, you can choose to add the Pudsey pyjamas which will secure a £2 donation to the worthwhile charity. The pup put a huge smile on the boys faces and has been on a few adventures already but for me i know that the sale of the bear will put smiles on many more children's faces.

"Wise sayings often fall on barren ground, but a kind word is never thrown away."

A few days back we read a really sweet post written about us by the lovely family behind Snowingindoors, we've become good friends with them over the months and they really are a great bunch. After hearing of Annie's new interest in Lego and being huge Lego lovers ourselves me and Seth decided to send a little package to welcome her in to the world of Lego, here's what happened when the package reached its destination...

http://www.snowingindoors.com/index.php/2013/a-wonderful-lego-present/

 

"Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear."

That exciting sound of the postman knocking the door will never lose its appeal. Ive been a good boy for the last couple of weeks and i haven't brought any toys for myself as were saving at the moment but its killing me. I don't know how I'm going to cope, there's so many things i want. I may not have brought anything for myself but that doesn't mean i haven't spent money on toys for someone else. Today the postie was delivering my friend Chris's patrol bear Fozzie for his Muppets Collection that he had written a post about last week.

Chris is a great chap and is always helping us out with things so we thought it would nice to get him something to say thank you. plus it gave me a bit of a toy fix so i hopefully wont have the shakes for a week or so. I think i get just as much satisfaction out of helping someone with their collection as i do with adding to my own.

Now were just keeping them peeled for something nice for his birthday.

"There will always be someone to take your place, but no one can every replace you."

Ive been feeling pretty guilty since last weekend, Me and Opeie went to see grandad and while we were there we decided to go and take my dad's dog Kizzy down the park. I went and got Opeie's pushchair out of the car and gave him Hulk Bear to hold. It was a lovely sunny hot day and we were out for quite a while pottering about. It wasnt until about 2 hours later that i realised that Opeie was no longer holding his bear.

I was really upset because we had made that bear together and i had recorded my voice for Opeie for when he squeezed it. Well yesterday we took a trip to Build a bear after dropping Mrs M at work and got a replacement which to be fair kind of made me feel a bit more guilty trying to pass this newcomer off as Grrrrrrrrr (the bear we had given life to originally). 

When i was driving home i started to think how bad i felt that while i was in there they asked me if i wanted to make the birth certificate, I explained what had happened at the weekend and i said no we have one from the last bear. So now i am harbouring a super hero bear with fake documentation, i really hope no one passes this information on to the authorities.

Anyway despite all this the new Grrrrrrrrr has settled in well and has been squeezed and thrown about by Opeie so he is now one of the Super team but it doesn't stop me thinking 'what is Grrrrrrrrr Mach 1 doing right now?' I hope he's being looked after.